This Day in History: Elvis is drafted

On December 20, 1957 at age 22, Elvis Presley was drafted.

 From This Day in History:

Widely praised for not seeking to avoid the draft or serve domestically, Presley was seen as a model for all young Americans. After he got his polio shot from an army doctor on national TV, vaccine rates among the American population shot from 2 percent to 85 percent by the time of his discharge on March 2, 1960.

The March of Dimes understood the power of celebrity! Elvis came into his career at a time when polio was at its peak. In 1955 Jonas Salk's vaccine was declared a success. The March of Dimes began calling on celebrities to help promote it. The following year, Elvis recieved his vaccination in front of cameras. 

You've probaby seen the image multiple times but, if not, you can check it out over at Smithsonian's online exhibit - Whatever Happened to Polio?

The March of Dimes will always be remembered for its incredible contributions to polio research and its assistance to polio patients. After the arrival of the vaccine this worthy organization eventually turned it's attention to helping families with premature babies and children with birth defects. Perhaps you and I should honor MOD and the children it serves with a Christmas gift.

Just click on the purple DONATE button at the bottom of the MOD page. And wouldn't that be a lovely way to celebrate the birth of Jesus!

BOOK GIVEAWAY: And the winners are...

Lesson learned. If I want to give away a book, the best method for doing so, is not by asking folks to give to a charity. (At least not during hard times.) Back on April 25, I suggested my readers make a contribution to the March of Dimes and let me know so I could enter them into a contest for a copy of Comfort.

I got no takers.

To be fair, Augusta Scattergood, commented that she always supports the March of Dimes but she'd be reading my book anyway so I should give it to someone else.

And over at LiveJournal? No entries there, either. However, even before I'd posted the contest, Kelly R. Fineman had told me that she too, always gives to the March of Dimes. (She also decided to make a 2nd contribution since MOD is having trouble raising funds this year.)

And so I'm giving my books to these March of Dimes loyalists!

Augusta, I'll send a copy to you or to the school or library of your choice. Just let me know. (My email addy is in the sidebar.)

And Kelly, Comfort is coming your way just as soon as you contact me.

Thanks to both of you for supporting a worthy cause. Especially one with such a great history.

SUNDAY STUFF

Stuff # 1. I've been critiquing a friend's manuscript. It's a good one - an exciting historical novel - but there's plenty of room for improvement.

But do you know what I'm mostly seeing?

Mostly I'm seeing how to improve my own historical novel. There's something about looking closely at someone else's work that gets the wheels rolling in regards to my own.

Stuff # 2. I am giving away a copy of COMFORT. The contest involves the March of Dimes. And a donation. Yesterday, I posted the annnouncement along with a bit of M of D history. Today, I'll reiterate here.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

1. Contribute to the March of Dimes (suggested donation - 10.00).
2. Leave me a comment, telling me that you contributed. (I don't need to know the amount, but feel free to share stories.)
3. Link to this post or copy the contents into your blog. (If you don't blog, send out emails with this blog address.)

How you can contribute to the March of Dimes:
a. Join a Walk for Dimes event.
b. Sponsor someone who is particpating in a Walk for Dimes.
c. Drop money into a jar at your local bank.
d. Buy a few of those March of Dimes stuffed animal babies offered at your bank.
e. Click here to donate online.

I'm going to give this contest 2 weeks. On May 9, I'll pull a name out of my comment reservoir and announce a winner. I hope your name is on the list!

ONCE UPON A DIME: (This is a book giveaway)

Vintage March of Dimes poster given me by the family of one of my experts, a wonderful physiotherapist who worked with polio patients.

Once upon a time, the March of Dimes fundraising campaign was held for 2 weeks in January. It culminated on Franklin D. Roosevelt's birthday (Jan. 30) with Birthday Balls in cities across the nation.

After all, FDR was the man who inspired this organization. It was called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis until Eddie Cantor, a radio comedian, got the idea to ask children across America to send a dime to the President. Cantor called it the March of Dimes.

Within days, the White House mailroom was overwhelmed with dimes (268,000.00 worth)! Official White House mail got lost in the morass of dimes. I don't think the MOD repeated that exact scenario again! But it did collect money in hundreds of creative ways which constitute an amazing heartwarming story.

For decades, the MOD funded polio related needs: hospital care, crtuches, iron lungs, and vaccine research. By 1955 we had a vaccine!

There'd always been people who felt that the MOD money should help with other causes. So, after the vaccine, March of Dimes changed its focus. Since 1958 it has benefitted babies with birth defects. And somewhere along the way, the campaign switched to April.
MOD is a tremendous organization as any family who has had a baby with special medical needs will tell you! But this year in "this economy" fundraising is down.

So, here's where I make good on the book giveaway. My new book, COMFORT, the sequel to BLUE is hot off the press. And I want to give a copy to you. Here's how you can get it.

1. Participate in the March of Dimes (suggested donation - 10.00). (This would be a great time for me to be Neil Gaimen, Cynthia Lord, or Laurie Halse Anderson - think how much money we could raise! )
2. Leave me a comment, telling me that you contributed. (I don't need to know the amount, but feel free to share stories.)
3. Link to this post or copy the contents into your blog. (If you don't blog, send out emails with this blog address.)

Since April is practically over, I'm going to give this contest 2 weeks. On May 9, I'll pull a name out of my comment reservoir and announce a winner. I hope your name is on the list!

How you can contribute to the March of Dimes

a. Join a Walk for Dimes event.
b. Sponsor someone who is particpating in a Walk for Dimes.
c. Drop money into a jar at your local bank.
d. Buy a few of those March of Dimes stuffed animal babies offered at your bank.
e. Click here to donate online.

Sources:

Patenting the Sun: Polio and the Salk Vaccine by Jane S. Smith

Four Billion Dimes by Victor Cohn

Images of America: March of Dimes by David W. Rose

TUESDAY 2: Two Touching Things

I learn the most endearing things at school visits.

1. Like today, a girl quietly handed me a note while I was talking to another student and then she slipped away. I opened it and read:

Thank you very much for writing this book. It means alot to me. And it inspired me to help people in need so I brought my piggy bank to school to start the March of Dimes again.

Wow! That touches me so deeply. And this is the month for the annual March of Dimes campaign. If you get a change to contribute, please do. MoD started out as an organization to raise funds for polio treatment and research but now it helps babies with birth defects. Such a worthy cause!

2. Ms. Miles, a teacher at the school, told me about a student whose grandmother died while the class was reading this book. The students were in the process of creating bottles that represented their life and their pain (based on chapter 19 of BLUE. Somehow the story of the bottle that holds our tears reached the minister who looked up the passage and used it as his text in the grandmother's funeral.

Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Psalm 56:8

I got some other really neat testimonials from the students. But this is Tuesday so I'm limiting myself to 2 items!

SOMETHING TO WATCH

My hubby and I have been having date nights on Mondays. Guess I know what we'll be doing next week!

David W. Rose, archivist at the March of Dimes sent me an email announcing a new polio documentary.

" The Polio Crusade, by Sarah Colt, will receive its national television premier on PBS American Experience on Monday, February 2, 2009 at 9:00 pm ET (check local listings).

The film documents the history of polio in America, the March of Dimes, and the development of the Salk polio vaccine. The majority of film footage and photographs used in the film originate from the March of Dimes Archives. "

Nina Gilden Seavey, who produced the spectacular documentary, A Paralyzing Fear first told me this was coming. I'm looking forward to The Polio Crusade, as I'm always interested in America's history with polio.

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC: (LAST MINUTE ANNOUNCEMENT)

Scenes from the "Miracle of Hickory" exhibit at Hickory History Center.

I realize it's a bit late to be posting this but in less than 24 hours I will be speaking at the Hickory History Center. I knew there was something I should have been blogging about the last few days. But life gets a bit overwhelming sometimes so I almost forgot to post this.

I assume if you're interested in attending, it also means you're local and therefore saw the announcement in the paper.

At any rate, I'll be giving a slightly different version of my "BLUE and the Miracle of Hickory" presentation. I typically use PowerPoint to share vintage photos of the emergency polio hospital and I illustrate the photo story with readings from BLUE. In this case however, the vintage photos and other artifacts from the hospital are part of the exhibit in the Bonniwell-Lyerly House where I'll be speaking.

So I'll talk about the research process and the local experts who helped me. And I am especially excited to share the 1945 March of Dimes promotional "The Miracle of Hickory, narrated by Greer Garson.

I'll be reading from BLUE, of course and from COMFORT, the sequel.

If you live nearby, do drop in at the Hickory History Center. (corner of 3rd Ave. NW. and North Center St. - immediately south of Frye Regional Medical Ctr.) Do not be confused - Bonniwell-Lyerly is the smaller building between the hospital and the magnificent Harper House.

The program is from 2:00 - 3:30. The exhibit will be open from 1:30 - 4:30. It's upstairs. I am in the basement! There is an elevator. Ya'll come!

CELEBRITY SIGHTING!

Hey look - it is the March of Dimes Poster Child all grown up! Dan Moury and his lovely wife Carolyn were out and about in Newton, NC yesterday and I was the paparazzi!

Actually, just prior to taking this photo, I was in the Catawba County Museum of History with other members of a very interested audience hanging on to every word that came out of Dan's mouth.

In 1944, at age 9 Dan was a patient in the Miracle of Hickory emergency polio hospital. The following year he posed with his nurse for a photograph which served as a model for this poster.

Dan's father took 8mm color film of various aspects of the emergency hospital, spliced the footage, added titles, and took them to clubs and civic groups around the state in the years following our epidemic.

Dan is a superb speaker with a relaxed manner and with the assistance of Catawba County History Museum Director, Melinda Herzog, he narrated the silent film for us.

The audience was perfectly lovely as well. There was a great turnout of locals who remembered the epidemic as well as some younger folks who, like me, discovered it recently through BLUE.

Best of all, there were a number of former patients from the hospital. I hope I can connect with some of them very soon. They might not be celebrities but their stories have enriched my life and I would love to explore them further.
The next Miracle of Hickory event is coming on July 12. The paparazzi will be there. Stay tuned for more info!

CELEBRITY EVENT!

Sunday, June 29
2:00 PM
Catawba County Museum of History
Courthouse Square, Newton

Dan Moury, North Carolina poster child, will be sharing a special home movie of the 1944 Emergency Polio Hospital and sharing personal experiences about his own stay!

Sponsored by the Catawba County Historical Association and the United Arts Council of Catawba County,